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UfliversitY and Scfioel Extefisiari. 

AMERICAN HISTORY.— Course A. 

S. M. MACVANE, 

1889. 

Harvard University. 



H V 



Copyright, 

1889, 

By S. M. MACVANE. 



Press ofJ.J. Little & Co., 
Astor Place, New York. 



American History-Course A. 

Introduction. — The student should work carefully through at least one of the 
general histories of the United States : using at the same time a second general 
account for comparison at every important point. One of the first lessons the 
student of history must learn is that no one book, however excellent, contains the 
whole truth of history. Every writer has his own point of view, and is liable to 
have his judgment of men and measures affected by his preconceived theories. 
Further, our national history is largely a history of parties, and of questions of 
policy as to which parties differed. It is not in the nature of the case that any one 
account should do justice to all the men and the parties that have figured in our 
history. 

This general study of the national growth must be supplemented by a thorough 
study of a number of selected topics. As to the order in which the two divisions 
of the work shall be read, each student may choose for himself. As a rule, how- 
ever, it will be found advantageous to divide the work chronologically into periods, 
and to complete the special topics as well as the general work of each period before 
proceeding to the next. 

The following divisions will perhaps be found as convenient as any : 

I. The Colonial Period. V. 1801-1817. 

II. 1774-1783. VI. 1817-1829. 

III. 1783-1789. VII. 1829-1841. 

IV. 1789-1801. VIII. 1841-1861. 

Students are strongly advised to keep notes of their reading, especially of their 

General Note regarding the Courses in History. — Each course is 
expected to occupy about six hours a week for a year. If the outline of the 
work to be done should seem vague, it must be remembered that historical study 
does not admit definite prescriptions and narrow limitations. The work will 
grow clear to the earnest student as he proceeds. 

The number of topics to be investigated must depend on the thoroughness of 
each investigation. The results of at least one investigation must be written out 
and submitted as a thesis. 

Course A ends at the establishment of the Constitution, March 4, 1789 ; and 
Course B with the close of Andrew Johnson's administration. 



UNIVERSITY EXTENSION. 



reading on special topics. Everything that seems of importance should be entered 
in brief, with a reference to the source of information. The mere act of making a 
note serves two useful purposes : it compels one to make sure that one has caught 
the sense of the passage noted; and, secondly, it aids the memory. The note 
itself may later save much trouble in reinvestigating ; and it will be found 
extremely handy for purposes of review. 

Some students find it very useful to make a general abstract or skeleton of the 
whole history. Those who have difficulty in grasping the general outline of the 
story are advised to try the effect of this course. 



TOPICS FOR SPECIAL STUDY, 

I. The Physiography of the United States, and its Effect 
ON Men of European Origin. 

N. S. Shaler in Narrative and Critical History, IV., Introduc- 
tion. 

II. Colonization of the Atlantic Seaboard. 

Note in the case of each colony how, by whom, and why it was 
settled, and trace its constitutional history to 1750. 

H. C. Lodge's Short History of the English Colonies, or 
some other short manual. 

Doyle's English Colonies gives an English view of the settle- 
ment of the Southern and New England colonies to 1688. 

III. The Colonies, 1750-1775. 

Lodge's Short History, chapters on the state of society in the 
several colonies. 

Lecky's England in the XVIIth Century, III., Ch. xii. 
Frothingham's Rise of the Republic. 



AMERICAN HISTORY.— COURSE A. 



IV. The Causes of the Revolution. 

M. Chamberlain in Narrative and Critical History, VI., Ch. i. 
Lecky's England, Vols. III. and IV. Frothingham's Republic. 
Mahon's England, Vols. V. and VI. 

V. The English Colonial System. 

Smith's Wealth of Nations. Pitkin's Statistical View. 

Bishop's History of Manufactures. Seeley's Expansion of 
McPherson's Annals of Commerce. England. 

VI. The Stamp Act. 

Creasy's British Constitutions. 

Massey's History of England, Vol. I. 

Chamberlain, Frothingham, Lecky, and Mahon, as above. 

VII. The Declaration of Independence. 

Frothingham's Republic. Randall's Jefferson. 
Higginson's Larger History. 

VIII. The State Constitutions. 

Charters and Constitutions of the United States. 

Story's Commentaries. 

Compare the " Bills of Rights " annexed to or incorporated with 
these constitutions, and the Declaration of Independence and the 
Constitution of the United States, including the first ten amendments. 



UNIVERSITY EXTENSION. 



IX. The French Alliance. 

General histories, as above. 

E. J. Lowell in Narrative and Critical History, VII., Ch. i. 
Bigelow's Franklin. 
Hale's Franklin in France. 

Henri Martin's Decline of the Monarchy, Vol. II., translated 
by Miss Booth. (Gives a French view.) 
G. Bancroft's United States. 

X. The Negotiations for Peace. 

General histories, as above. 

John Jay in Narrative and Critical History, Vol. VIL, 
Ch. ii. 

Fitzmaurice's Life of Shelburne. The treaty is in Treaties 
and Conventions between the United States and other 
Powers. 

XI. The Loyalists. 

G. E. Ellis in Narrative and Critical History, Vol. VIL, 185, 
where references are given. 

XII. The Fisheries. 

Eugene Schuyler's American Diplomacy. 
Charles Isham's The Fisheries Dispute. 
John Adams's Works. 

Further authorities cited in Narrative and Critical History, 
VIL, 170. 



AMERICAN HISTORY.— COURSE A. 



XIII. The Northern Boundary. 
Schuyler's American Diplomacy. 
Benton's Thirty Years' View, II., 420. 
Curtis's Webster, II., 94. 

Winsor in Narrative and Critical History, VII., 171, where 
the authorities are cited. 

XIV. The Confederation. 

Intercolonial Congresses and Plans of Union : Winsor in Narra- 
tive and Critical History, V., 611. 

Authority of the Continental Congress : Story's Commen- 
taries ; Frothingham's Republic. 

The Articles of Confederation : Charters and Constitutions, 
Story, and Frothingham, as above. 

Von Hoist, Constitutional History, I., Ch. i. 

Marshall's Washington, II. 

G. Bancroft's Formation of Constitution, I., Ch. i. 

J. Adams's Works. 

Curtis's Constitution, lo, 142, 328, etc. 

Winsor in Narrative and Critical History, VII., 215, where 
other authorities are cited ; McMaster's, I. For the Failures of 
the Confederation, see Story. 

XV. The Land Cessions. 
Claims of the States to Western lands. 
Maryland's refusal to ratify the Articles of Confederation. 
The cessions by the States. 



8 UNIVERSITY EXTENSION. 

Gannett's Boundaries of the United States. 

H. B. Adams's Maryland's Influence on the Land Cessions, 
in Johns Hopkins University Studies, III., No. I. 

Further authorities are cited in Narrative and Critical His- 
tory, VII., 527. 

XVI. The Ordinance of 1787. 

The Ordinance itself is in Charters and Constitutions. 
As to its authorship, see authorities cited in Narrative and 
Critical History, VII., 537. 

As to its influence, see ibid.^ 538. 

XVII. Formation of the Constitution. 

G. T. Curtis in Narrative and Critical History, VII., Ch. 

iv. See the leading authorities cited in ibid., p. 255, especially — 

G. T. Curtis, History of the Constitution, Vol. II. 

G. Bancroft, History of the Formation of the Constitution. 
(2 volumes. Forms also, with revisions. Vol. VI. of the revised edi- 
tion.) 

Lives and Works of Madison, of Franklin, of Hamilton, of J. 
Adams. 

Hildreth's United States, Ch. xlvii. 

Jameson's Constitutional Conventions. 

Elliot's Debates, etc., Vols. I. and V. 

Note especially the "three compromises" on representation of 
slaves, equality of States, and on the slave trade. Also, the questions 
as to the executive. 



AMERICAN HISTORY. — COURSE A. 



XVIII. The Constitution Ratified. 

The Federalist. 

Elliot's Debates, Vols. II.-IV., and the general works. 
Compare the main features of the Constitution thus adopted with 
the existing State constitutions. 
Charters and Constitutions. 

XIX. Study of the Constitution. 

A careful study of the Government of the United States is nec- 
essary in order to understand the history of the nation. For this 
purpose, in addition to one of the simple manuals of the Constitu- 
tion (^. ^., Andrew's Manual, or Young's Government Class- 
Book) the student ought to consult several of the following works : 
Cooley's Constitutional Law ; E. A. Freeman's Essay on Presi- 
dential Government (Historical Essays, Vol. I.) ; W. Wilson's 
Congressional Government ; H. S. Maine's Popular Govern- 
ment, Chap. IV.; M. E. Boutney's La Constitution Americaine ; 
Bryce's American Commonwealth. 

The following list of topics and questions may be found helpful. 
They are chiefly intended to call attention to points that are likely 
to be misapprehended or overlooked. 

1. Representation in the Congress under the Articles of Confed- 
eration. Extent and character of the legislative power. Provision 
for raising a revenue, and attempts made to reform it. Executive 
authority under the articles. Lack of an administrative system. No 
judicial system. State sovereignty. 

2. The Annapolis Convention. The Federal Convention. Vir- 



lO UNIVERSITY EXTENSION. 

ginia plan and Jersey plan. General sketch of the proceedings of 
the convention. Questions found most difficult to settle. Compro- 
mises. Chief point in which the Constitution, as finally adopted, 
differs from the original plan reported from Committee of the 
Whole. 

3. Topics and questions relating to the Constitution. 

{a) The right to vote in the election of representatives. The rule 
for the apportionment of representatives before and since the adop- 
tion of the slavery amendments. How are vacancies in the Senate 
and House of Representatives filled ? Give the source of the right 
to vote in the election of the President. The purpose and occasion 
of the Xllth amendment. The theoretical advantages of indirect 
election. Rise of the National Conventions. 

{h) Persons liable to impeachment. Penalties in case of convic- 
tion. Offices to which members of Congress cannot be appointed. 
Grounds of the controversy as to powers of taxation conferred on 
Congress. Practical working of the clause giving the House of Rep- 
resentatives the sole right to originate revenue bills. Compare our 
procedure in financial legislation with the English method. How 
may a bill become a law without the President's approval ? Explain 
" Pocket Veto." Declarations of war and treaties of peace — how 
made by the United States. 

{c) State the provisions of the Constitution relating to each of 
the following subjects (also give definitions) : Letters of marque ; 
attainder ; corruption of blood ; treason ; ex post facto laws ; direct 
taxes ; bills of credit ; legal tender ; reprieves and pardons ; export 
duties ; right of petition ; search warrants ; excessive bail ; habeas 



AMERICAN HISTORY. — COURSE A. II 

corpus. In what cases and by whom may the privilege of the writ 
of habeas co7'pus be suspended ? 

{d) Traces of slavery in the Constitution. Fugitives from 
labor; the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. Effect of the slavery 
amendments on the apportionment of representatives. Constitu- 
tional position of the Indian tribes living within the territory of the 
United States. Government of the Territories. 

{e) The control of the Senate over appointments. The power of 
dismissal. The Tenure of Office Act of 1867, and the amended 
act of 1869. Appointments which do not need the approval of the 
Senate. Reform of the Civil Service Act of 1882. 

(/) Provisions of the Constitution in reference to compensation 
of congressmen and salaries of the judges and the President. Argu- 
ments for and against a salaried legislature. 

(^•) The powers of Congress. Mention cases in which the power 
is exclusive, and cases in which it is concurrent (Cooley, Ch. iv.). 

{}i) Explain the terms original, appellate, concurrent, and exclu- 
sive, as applied to jurisdiction. Extent of the original jurisdiction of 
the Supreme Court. Effect of the Xlth amendment on the judicial 
power of the United States. Composition and jurisdiction of the 
Circuit Courts. Concurrent jurisdiction of State and United States 
Courts. Transfer of causes and appeals from State Courts to the 
courts of the United States (Cooley, Ch. vi.). The right of trial by 
jury. Appeals from the Circuit Courts to the Supreme Court. Need 
of more speedy decision of appeals. Source of the judicial power to 
j:leclare Acts of Congress unconstitutional and void. Have the Eng- 
lish courts this power in relation to Acts of Parliament ? 



12 UNIVERSITY EXTENSION, 



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(/) The exact provision for amendment of the Constitution. Dis- 
tinguish the two modes. (Compare with England, France, and Ger- 
many.) 

(y ) Checks and balances in the government of the United States 
(Cooley, Ch. vii.). 

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